


Another Small Adventure

by electrictoes



Series: Adventure 'Verse [2]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-04-15
Updated: 2009-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:28:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28988535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/electrictoes/pseuds/electrictoes
Summary: Living a normal human life can still present adventures at every possible turn.
Relationships: Metacrisis Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Series: Adventure 'Verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2126433





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to livejournal

**Title:** Another Small Adventure (1/7)  
**Characters/Pairings:** TenII, Rose, various Tylers. TenII/Rose.  
**Rating:** PG  
**Spoilers:** Post-JE. Potential spoilers for everything for before that.  
**Disclaimer:** Sadly, I don't own Doctor Who. Playing with the BBC's toys.  
**Summary:** _Living a normal human life can still present adventures at every possible turn.  
_**Author's Note(s):** This is a sequel to [_A Different Kind of Adventure_](http://electrictoes.livejournal.com/tag/fic:+a+different+kind+of+adventure). It's probably not necessary to read it, but it'd be cool if you did. Tremendous amounts of thanks to [](https://wishiknewwho.livejournal.com/profile)[**wishiknewwho**](https://wishiknewwho.livejournal.com/) for being a fantastic beta & encouraging me to write this.  


Rose Tyler woke to the sound of her alarm clock and the sight of the Doctor’s face hovering above hers. He grinned down at her. “Morning, Mrs Tyler.”

“Morning you. Turn the alarm off.”

Laughing, he pushed the button on the top of the alarm and placed a soft kiss on her lips. “Getting up?”

“Not yet.” She snuggled back down into the bed.

“Come on, I’ve been up an hour.”

Rose raised an eyebrow. “You could always come back to bed yourself.”

“Oh yeah?” He leaned down again then, just as his mobile phone started to ring across the room. He ignored it, moving to kiss her again.

Rose shook her head. “Answer that, then come back...”

“Why?”

“Because if you don’t it’ll end up being important.” She wriggled away from him slowly. “Go on, I don’t want a repeat of last week.”

The Doctor shuddered at the memory. Jackie had let herself into their flat after they had spent the morning in bed, ignoring their ringing phones. “Don’t move.” He smirked at her and danced across the room, seizing his mobile phone and answering it as he wandered out into the hallway. “Hello, John Tyler.”

Rose curled up in the bed as she watched him go, glancing at the clock. She quite liked the Doctor’s habit of setting the alarm clock far earlier than they needed to, there was always time to relax in the mornings. Or to coax him back into bed.

She was enjoying married life, it was somehow even better than their life had been before. After he had proposed in Devon they had begun to plan their wedding, avoiding all of Jackie’s overly elaborate suggestions and opting for a small ceremony than was more about them than anything else. He had taken her name, and been quite gleeful about it. He had taken to being a husband quite well, and absolutely adored introducing Rose as his wife.

He was sliding back into bed beside her before she noticed, wrapping his arms around her. “Hello.”

She turned to look at him. “Anything important?”

“It was Tony. Wanted to know how far it is to the moon and back.”

“Probably best you answered then, Mum would’ve brought him round on their way to school.”

The Doctor pulled a face. “Please don’t bring up your mother when I’m attempting to seduce you.”

“Seduce me? Is that what you call this?”

“Well, I’m irresistible, it doesn’t really take a lot of effort on my part.”

Rose rolled him onto his back and hovered above him, determined to wipe the smirk off his face. Later he would insist that his plan of seduction had worked.

Rose laughed as the Doctor hopped around the living room trying to tug on his left shoe and style his hair at the same time. He scowled at her and she stood up, laying a hand on his arm. “Stop still a second.”

“Rose, we’re going to be late. Again.” He protested, but he dropped his foot to the floor and stilled his hand, allowing Rose to tug it away and rearrange his hair herself.

“We won’t be that late, it’s fine.”

“Fine for you, scary Ingrid isn’t your receptionist. She keeps making sly comments about my punctuality and our bedroom habits.” He pulled a face.

She kissed him softly and pulled her hands from his hair. “Perfect.”

“Hmm, let me check.” He turned towards the mirror and Rose rolled her eyes.

“Put your shoe on and grab your car keys.” She wiped his hair gel from his hands and picked up her bag. “Oh and can you get that book Mum wants to borrow from the bedside table? We’re going over straight after work.”

“Do we have to?” He sighed as he adjusted his shoe.

“You promised Tony you’d show him how a Zeppelin flies.” He nodded and disappeared up the stairs. Rose watched him go with a smile on her face. They had stayed in bed far longer than they had intended, but she really wasn’t complaining.

He slid his hand into hers when he came down the stairs, tugging her towards the door. “Come on, Mrs Tyler. Work to do.”

It had been a very slow day in the lab. Technology didn’t fall to earth as often as the Doctor would like and there was very little for him to work with. Occasionally he would fill his slow days with alien translations or identifying biological differences between species for other departments, but there had been little of that today. Even worse, Rose had obviously been having an active day because she hadn’t come to visit him, she hadn’t even been able to join him for lunch.

He was entertaining himself by adding settings to the sonic screwdriver he had recently completed. It could now tie shoe laces and mash potatoes. He glanced up at the clock, it was quarter to six. Rose must still be out in the field.

There were times he hated being in research and development while she was out there, endangering her life. But he was always on call for emergencies and he had long since learnt that Rose could handle herself. His refusal to carry a gun had not helped his appeals to get more field time. If he knew where Rose’s team was he would often turn up in an unofficial capacity, but as he hadn’t seen her all day he had no idea if she was even in the city.

The lab door opened then, his wife standing in the doorway with a smile on her face and dirt on her nose. “Hey. Sorry I’m late.”

He sent her an affectionate smile. “Hello. Busy day?”

She crossed the room, kissing him softly and sinking ontoa stool beside him. “A bit, yeah. How was your day?”

“Dull. Not much happening.” He began to pack up his tools, throwing them haphazardly into boxes in the corner.

Rose watched him through tired eyes. “Was a big crash just outside the city today, you’ll have a lot to work with tomorrow, I’m sure.”

“Spaceship?”

“Yeah, quite a big one. There’s a clean up team packing up what’s left.”

The Doctor shrugged on his coat and held out a hand for Rose. “Anyone on board?”

Rose paused a moment, watching his expression carefully. “No one alive.”

He nodded, opening the lab door with his free hand. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he found himself face to face with Joe Teal, the newest member of Rose’s team. “Joe.”

“Hello. Sorry, Doctor Tyler. Was looking for Rose.”

“Oh no, you’re not stealing her. I haven’t seen her all day.”

Joe raised an eyebrow. “Sure you haven’t. She was only an hour late in this morning.”

“What is it Joe?” Rose asked.

“The ship that we found earlier. They’ve just called it in, they found an alien alive.”

Rose’s hand slid from the Doctor’s and she stepped forward, ready for action. “Hostile?”

Joe shook his head. “No, no. Albert’s bringing it over. No danger, he said. Subdued, apparently.”

The Doctor looked at Rose. “What species was it, do you know?”

Joe shook his head. “No. They looked human, really. I suppose they’ll get you to figure it out after they’ve done the autopsies.” The younger man was wary of the Doctor, he wasn’t keen on the idea of one of the lab guys being consulted and respected in the way that the Doctor was.

Rose slid her hand back into the Doctor’s. “If there’s no threat then we’ll be off. If there are any problems when it comes round, call us back in.”

Joe nodded, a small scowl on his face as they bade him goodnight. The Doctor had a matching scowl as they turned the corner. “I think Joe fancies you. I don’t like it.”

Rose laughed and leaned up to kiss him. “Well, I don’t fancy Joe. I promise.”

He kissed her back until a loud cough interrupted them, he turned to see Ingrid the receptionist shaking her head at them and he led Rose towards the lift. When the doors shut Rose looked up at him. “I think Ingrid might fancy you. Not sure I like that idea, Mr Tyler.”  
  


[ **Chapter 2** ](http://electrictoes.livejournal.com/222483.html#cutid1)  



	2. Chapter 2

Dinner at the Tyler Mansion had been lovely. As soon as their plates were cleared, Tony had dragged the Doctor into his playroom, desperate to know all about the inner workings of a Zeppelin. After a quick look from Jackie, Pete excused himself, and Rose began to help clear up.

“Is Dad okay?”

“He’s fine, sweetheart. Work to do.” Jackie gathered up some plates and followed Rose into the kitchen. They began to load the dishwasher in relative silence. It was moments like this that reminded Rose of how things used to be, when it was just the two of them and they were helping each other with the ordinary, mundane tasks that their lives centred around. It wasn’t that Rose didn’t like her life now, she adored it. And Jackie was so much happier here, with Pete and Tony to look after. Things were good, but sometimes she missed the way things had once been.

“You’re quiet.” Jackie commented, after a while.

“Just thinking.”

“Oh yeah, what about?”

Rose shrugged. “Just stuff.” She didn’t like to bring up the past with Jackie, didn’t want to remind her of what she had lost, or make anyone think she was unhappy.

“Is everything okay with you and the Doctor?”

Rose looked up from the dishwasher. “Perfect.”

“Hmm.” Jackie moved to sit on a stool at the breakfast bar and Rose raised an eyebrow.

“What does hmm mean?”

“Nothing. I was just thinking.”

Rose sat beside her mother, curious. “Thinking what?”

“Are you pregnant, sweetheart?”

Rose nearly fell from her stool. She had no idea where Jackie had got that idea from, but babies weren’t really on her agenda as yet. It wasn’t that she didn’t want children, she did. They both did. But they weren’t planning children or even taking the risk that one might come along. She shook her head. “No, no. Definitely not.”

“Really?”

“What makes you think I’m pregnant?”

Jackie paused a moment, looking as though she was choosing her words carefully. Rose tried hard not to appear surprised. “Well... it’s just that, your Dad and I, when we’d been married as long as you two have – both times – I was pregnant. And you’ve been more than a little, y’know, amorous, lately. You keep being late to work and he walks around like the cat that’s got the cream.” She paused. “And you said you wanted kids. After you took Tony to Devon. You’ve got a faraway look in your eyes, too, like you’ve got a secret you don’t want to share.”

“I’m not pregnant, Mum. And if I was-”

“Who’s pregnant?” Rose turned to see the Doctor standing in the doorway, an empty bottle in his hand. He looked bemused and Rose smiled.

“No one. Well, someone, I’m sure. No one here.”

“Right.” Still looking confused, the Doctor crossed the room and filled the bottle up at the sink.

Jackie turned to look at him then. “What’re you doing with that bottle?”

“Demonstration. For Tony.”

“Don’t you be getting water all over my carpets!” She warned.

The Doctor threw her a casual smile. “We’ll go out into the hallway then.” Before his mother-in-law could respond, he was out the door, bottle still in hand.

Rose sighed. “He’s going to know we’ve been having a baby talk now. He’ll get all panicky.”

“I’m sure he won’t.” Jackie insisted. “He’ll make a good dad. Look how he is with Tony.”

Rose feigned shock. “Is that you paying my husband a compliment? Will wonders never cease?”

With an eye roll, Jackie continued. “Rose, you’re going to make fantastic parents. And you’re neither of you getting any younger. It’d be good for you both, a baby. It makes relationships stronger.”

“Our relationship is strong, Mum.” Rose insisted. If she was sure about anything in life it was her marriage; the Doctor loved her, that was the most important thing in the world. Their relationship didn’t need strengthening; they’d survived so much already. She had crossed universes to get to him, and they wouldn’t be parting without a fight. “We’re happy.”

“I’m not saying you’re not happy, sweetheart. I’m just saying, baby makes three and all that. Most wonderful thing in the world.” She placed a hand on her daughter’s. “When I had you, I looked at your dad and I knew, he was going to make my life magic. And then I lost him, and it was awful, but there was you.”

“I’m not going to lose the Doctor, Mum. Do you want me to make a baby just so I’ll have a Doctor substitute if something happens?”

“No, that’s not what I mean. I just meant that when I had you, when I had Tony, I knew how much your father meant to me. There’s nothing more beautiful than seeing your husband hold your baby for the first time. I want you to have that.”

“I will Mum, just not yet.”

“The life you lead, sweetheart, I wonder if you ever will.”

Rose sighed, pulling her hand back from Jackie’s and looking her in the eye. “I want babies with him, of course I do. But when we’re ready. We’re having fun now, Mum. We’re so good, when the time is right we’ll have a baby and be even better, but right now, today, all I’m interested in is him.”

Jackie nodded, defeated, but Rose couldn’t help wondering if what she had said was true. She had been thinking about children with the Doctor for quite some time, although it had always been an idea of something to happen in the future, not now. But they’d done the marriage thing, they’d done the house thing, it seemed as though things were heading that way. They had moved from what had been Rose’s old flat into a three bedroom house shortly after their engagement. There hadn’t been a discussion about extra rooms for babies, but a mutual agreement that they wanted more bedrooms. They had been preparing for children without even thinking about it, perhaps subconsciously she had been ready for a child for a while now.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when the Doctor reappeared in the kitchen doorway, his shirt soaked. “Think I need another water bottle.”

Rose had worried that their journey home would be punctuated either by questions or by an awkward silence, but if the Doctor had been thinking at all about the conversation he had overheard, he wasn’t showing it. He had driven back happily, enthusing about his evening with Tony, complaining about traffic lights that changed just as they reached them, and lowering his voice to just the right tone as they neared the house, insisting they needed an early night.

As he led her to their bedroom Rose momentarily contemplated mentioning children, getting him to start as they meant to go on. But there was a look of adoration in his eyes as he leaned down to kiss her in their bedroom doorway and she decided that it could wait a while longer.

They walked into the Torchwood building hand in hand the next morning, their eyes barely leaving each other. There had been an unspoken surge of affection passing between them and Rose found herself even more reluctant to part from him than usual. She looked up as Joe came hurtling towards them.

“Morning Rose!” His eyes flashed to the Doctor briefly. “Doctor Tyler.”

“Morning, Joe.” Rose smiled and the Doctor made a vague noise of acknowledgement, while squeezing Rose’s hand gently in a gesture Rose imagined was supposed to look possessive.

“The alien from yesterday’s awake now. I haven’t been down to the vaults yet, but Angelo’s got the translator up and running and he’s waiting for you to do the interrogation.”

“Better head down there then, get some work done.” She turned to Joe briefly. “Are the autopsy reports back?”

“On Doctor Tyler’s desk.” He said, his tone almost bitter.

“Right then, I’ll head downstairs and you,” she prodded the Doctor in the chest lightly, “can call down when you’ve read the reports. Tell me all your amazing alien secrets.”

“I’ll show you amazing alien secrets.” The Doctor said with a smirk, dropping his lips to hers. Joe coughed pointedly and they drew back. “I’ll see you later then.”

“Mmhmm. Have a good morning.”

The Doctor had barely had a chance to read the first few lines of the autopsy report when the phone in his lab rang. He tended to ignore it and continue working, but he knew that Rose was with the alien and he lifted the receiver after the second ring. “Doctor Tyler.”

“Hey, it’s me.”

He smiled at the sound of Rose’s voice. “Thought it would be. Anything interesting happening down there?”

“Could say that.” She paused, the Doctor was sure it was for dramatic effect. “There won’t be an interrogation.”

“Why? Is the equipment not working? I can come down and check it out.” He span around on his chair as he spoke, bringing it to a halt with his heel against the floor.

“Haven’t tested it.” He could tell by the tone of Rose’s voice she was enjoying keeping him in suspense.

“What is it, then?”

“The survivor, it’s not exactly going to be able to tell us much.”

“Why’s that?” He fiddled with a pen impatiently.

“It’s a baby.”

The Doctor blinked. A baby alien. Why had no one mentioned the fact that it was an infant before? If he’d known sooner he would have stayed for its arrival last night. “I’ll be down there as soon as I can.”

“Have you read the autopsy report? We need to know what we’re dealing with, Doctor.”

He was on his feet, gathering up the papers. “I’ll bring it with me.”

He reached the vaults in record time. He had skimmed the autopsy report in the lift on the way down and was almost certain he knew what species the baby Torchwood had rescued from the ship’s wreckage was. He smiled at Rose as he entered and glanced at the Torchwood operatives all sat around looking confused. “Hello. Cavalry’s arrived.”

“Doctor Tyler.” A man he didn’t recognise stepped forward, his badge indentified him as Herbert Sampson, Head of Examination and Rehabilitation. The Doctor knew what that meant; he was in charge of prodding and poking any aliens brought in and deciding whether or they should be shot or imprisoned. He ignored Herbert’s proffered hand and immediately launched into questioning him. “Where is it? The baby? Have you touched it?”

“No. Of course not. We don’t know what it is. Anything could happen.”

The Doctor rolled his eyes. “It’s a baby, what’s it going to do. Cry at you?”

“Actually, Doctor Smith, sorry, Doctor Tyler, it hasn’t stopped crying since it woke up.” This was Abby, a young girl from Rose’s team. Very sweet. Still a little overwhelmed whenever the Doctor flashed her a grin. The Donna in him was suggesting a bit of matchmaking when he saw Joe standing unnecessarily close to Rose, but he turned his attentions back to Abby’s comments.

“I’m not surprised.” The team gave him a look. “It’s a baby. Wakes up in a strange place, strange people looking down at it. You’d be terrified and you’re not even an empath.”

“The species are empathic then, Doctor?” Rose asked.

He nodded. “Well, they were in our world. Highly sensitive to the emotions of those around them. And this one’s just a baby. Can’t control how strongly other people’s emotions hit it. You’re all human, broadcasting your emotions willy-nilly, well, you would. No control over it. The last emotion it’ll have had from its family would have been terror. Poor thing’s probably desperate for a hug.” He turned to his wife then. “Rose?”

She nodded. “I’ll get it...”

“And find out whether it’s a boy or a girl. All this ‘it’ nonsense is annoying me.” He grinned at Rose’s team as she walked down to the vaults. They looked at her warily.

Joe spoke first. “That alien could do anything to her, and you’re just sending her off to fetch it without being sure it won’t hurt her.”

“I’m sure it won’t. And I’m sure of Rose.”

Herbert Sampson looked at the Doctor again. “And what exactly is this species called?”

“Trymtoks.” The Doctor answered simply. “They’re essentially human, few biological differences, but most are in the brain. Terribly peaceful nation, can’t stand to hurt anyone because they feel it so keenly when they do. Have to be a masochist to wage war if you’re a Trymtok.”

Rose reappeared as he spoke. The baby alien was whimpering in her arms, but her cries had died down. The Doctor’s breath hitched as he looked at her. His wife, standing with a baby in her arms. It was a perfect image. He swallowed and shook his head when he realised Rose had been talking. “Sorry, what did you say?”

“How different is their biology? I think we should probably feed her something.”

“Her?”

Rose looked at him like he was stupid. “Yes, it’s a girl.”

“Oh, right.” He paused, seeing Rose with the baby had really thrown him.

“Doctor Tyler.” Herbert said impatiently. “Biological differences, if you please.”

“Nothing too dramatic. They have strong empathic abilities, all minor differences within the brain. Heart’s on the opposite side, blood pumps in the other direction. Belly button’s usually off centre. That aside... same as a human baby. Feed her... whatever you feed a human baby.”

Rose looked ready to take charge then. “Abby, make a shopping list, give it to Marie in the admin office, she can nip out and pick up a few things. Angelo, Joe go and see if you can track down something that resembles a cot, someone put her in an empty fish tank. Herbert, you and your team can stand down for now.”

“I don’t think so.” Herbert told her. “Baby or not, that thing is still an alien, still a potential threat. No, we’ll take it to the laboratory and test for any dangerous qualities it might have.”

“She’s safe, perfectly so.” The Doctor insisted. “You don’t need to take her into the lab.”

“I’m doing my job, Doctor Tyler. Why don’t you go upstairs and do yours?”

The Doctor stepped forward then, looking Hebert in the eye. “You’re not running any experiments on this baby, okay?”

“No, not okay.”

“I’m telling you, I’m ordering you, to leave her alone.”

Herbert drew himself up to his full height, an inch or two taller than the Doctor. “And who exactly put you in charge?”

“You can take it up with Director Tyler, if you want.” He fixed the taller man with a steely glare before turning to where Rose and her team were still standing. “I want twenty four hour security keeping her safe. No one is to run any experiments, okay?”

The team nodded duly and Rose stepped forward, the baby was still whimpering softly. Without a word Rose passed her over to her husband. Watching as he ran a hand over her fine brown hair, soothing her gently. Within minutes she was calm, curling into the Doctor’s chest and gripping at his shirt lightly. He smiled down at her. “That’s it, it’s okay. Quiet now.”

Rose’s heartbeat had increased rapidly. Her mother was right, the Doctor was going to make a wonderful father one day. “Have you calmed her?”

“Yeah. Good job I’ve retained some telepathy, however low level it is.” He looked up at the team, at Herbert Sampson, still fuming beside them. He passed the baby back to Rose and picked up the autopsy reports again. “Right, I’ll sort security for the baby, Mr Sampson, go find some paper to shuffle. Rose has told the rest of you what to do. Hop to it.”

The Doctor lay a soft kiss on Rose’s lips once everyone else had departed. As he left Herbert was mumbling about family favours and lifetime services. The Doctor rolled his eyes and stroked the baby’s head softly. “You’re beautiful.”

“She is, yeah.”

“I meant you.” The Doctor said with a smile. “But you’re right, she is.”


	3. Chapter 3

The Doctor had spent much of the day in his lab going over the autopsy reports and catalogue pieces of the spaceships’ wreckage. When he met Rose downstairs that evening, they walked together to the vaults to check on security. Two Torchwood officers stood outside the containment cell allotted to the baby alien. They had not been able to find somewhere more suitable to keep her, but at least she was in a cot. She was staring up at the light bulb in her cell with wonder.

The Doctor slipped his hand from Rose’s and pressed it against the glass, watching the baby for a moment and projecting calm, happy thoughts towards her. He watched as she smiled, and he grinned too.

Rose wound her arm around his. “Will she be okay?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “I think so.”

“I don’t like leaving her here.”

The Doctor shifted their arms so that he could take her hand. “No, me either.” He sighed. “It’s just one night. Tomorrow’s a new day, we’ll come up with something.” With one last glance at the smiling baby he led Rose from the room.

He slipped into the driver’s seat of their car, smiling as she slid in beside him. “What’s the plan for tonight then, Mrs Tyler?”

Rose looked at him for a moment. “I thought we could stay in. Just you and me.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her as he started the car and she laughed, shaking her head. “You know, since we got married, I think you’ve become even more insatiable.”

“Just exercising my conjugal rights.” He smirked. “You are duty bound to keep me happy, wife.”

“Is that so, husband?”

“Yep!” He popped the ‘p’ cheerfully and sent her a cheeky grin. “As such, I shall be taking you to bed as soon as we reach our marital abode.”

“You should be so lucky, Doctor Tyler. And will you keep your eyes on the road, please?” She was smiling though, so he was fairly sure his luck was in.

Rose allowed the Doctor to make a big show of leading her up the stairs and into their bedroom, but when he leaned down to kiss her something made her stop; an image flashing through her mind. The Doctor, with the baby, how perfectly right it had looked. She imagined him holding a baby with her eyes and his nose and she pulled back.

He looked at her, puzzled. “Rose? What’s wrong?”

“I...” Her hand found the wall and she paused a moment, trying to focus. “Could we maybe wait until after dinner?” She watched his reaction. He shrugged and she smiled. “I feel a bit dizzy, I’ve hardly eaten all day.”

The Doctor smiled. “Are you sure you’re not just dazzled by my handsome looks?”

She relaxed then and held out a hand for him. “Of course that’s it. Come on, your turn to cook.”

“Is it? Oh dear. Where’s the telephone?”

Once they had eaten the Chinese the Doctor ordered Rose snuggled into him on the sofa, playing with his shirt buttons idly. He kissed the top of her head and she looked up as he spoke. “Are you sure you’re okay?

She nodded. “I’m fine.”

“You’re quiet.” He murmured, stroking her hair softly.

“You’re not.”

“Never am, me.” He paused. “You can tell me if something’s bothering you, you know.”

“It’s nothing.” She sighed and turned her head back into his chest. She wanted to talk to him about children, but she didn’t know how to approach it or how he would react. She knew she was going to have to broach the subject soon, he knew that something was on her mind and she knew he would persist. “I was just thinking about the conversation I had with Mum yesterday.”

“Mm, what conversation’s that?”

“About... babies.”

“Oh, yes.” He shuffled slightly and Rose wondered if he was panicking. “Somebody’s pregnant.” He paused. “It isn’t your mother, is it? I mean, it’s very nice that her and Pete have stopped arguing but, she’s not as young as she used to be-”

Rose laughed. “You can’t talk.”

“I’m younger than I’ve been in years, I’ll have you know.” He blinked. “That sounds a bit ridiculous if you don’t know the way of things...”

He had her laughing again. She loved this man, so much. She placed a soft kiss on his jaw line. “Mum’s not pregnant.”

“Oh, good.” He returned to stroking her hair only to stop again seconds later. “Wait. Are you pregnant?” He sat up, disturbing her in the process. This time she was sure he had begun to panic.

“No, no.” She lay a hand on his chest softly. “I’m not pregnant.” She bit her lip before she spoke again, her eyes fixed to his anxiously. “Would it be so bad though? Us having a baby.”

“I...” The Doctor looked a little stunned. “No. No, of course not. I just...” He trailed off and Rose wondered if there was something he was hiding from her. She stroked his cheek and pecked his lips softly.

“You just what, Doctor?”

“Not now, eh?” He leaned back a little. “I mean, there’s no rush. Plenty of time for baby making, after all. Let’s talk about it another day.”

“Doctor?” He seemed more than a little distracted and he was definitely on the verge of panic. They had talked about children before, always in vague terms; when we have children, that’ll be a story to tell our grandkids, you’ll have to be the one to teach our daughter to dance, that sort of thing. Neither of them saying outright; I want kids with you. But she had always felt that he considered children to be something in their future. Maybe now that the reality was hitting him he was terrified, maybe now he realised that this was actually something she wanted. Maybe it was something he didn’t want. She tried to find the answers in his eyes, wondered if he was dwelling on thoughts of the children he used to have.

He sighed and she was pulled out of her thoughts, looking at him once again. “Sorry, we can have this conversation, I promise. Just... not tonight? Would that be okay?”

She nodded then, kissing him softly. “Come on you, weren’t you going to exercise your conjugal rights tonight?”

“Oh, if I must, Mrs Tyler.”

Rose was curled up in bed, unwilling to move ever again. Even the thought of the Doctor in the shower hadn’t been enough to stir her. She’d let him go without her, preferring to enjoy a moment of stillness. She was worried about the Doctor’s reaction to the idea of them having children, but she was sure whatever the problem was he would tell her in his own time. The time she had spent with the Doctor, knowing him and loving him, she had learned more than anything, that the more the Doctor was pushed, the more he clammed up. No, he’d talk to her when he felt ready.

In the meantime, she had other things to focus on. They didn’t need to have children right now, they had plenty of time; her mother was in her forties when Tony was born. She was only thinking of it so much because of her conversation with Jackie and the baby alien at Torchwood. It was just the timing of things that was making her biological clock jump up and down, battling for her attention.

She shuffled over the bed slightly to get more comfortable and cursed as her mobile phone rang. She was sure it would have remained silent if she hadn’t moved. She leaned off the bed to pull her mobile from her abandoned jeans and then sat back against the headboard as she answered it. “Rose Tyler.”

Moments later she was out of bed and clumsily dressing. She glanced down the landing as she exited the bedroom. She could hear the shower still running in the bathroom and decided not to disturb the Doctor. The phone call had been from Torchwood, late night callouts were not unknown for Rose and her team, although lately people had only called Rose in if it was absolutely necessary, preferring to let her enjoy their honeymoon period. The Doctor accepted that these callouts were part of Rose's job and rarely made a fuss about her leaving, although he often insisted upon coming along with her, despite his lack of official field training.

She scrawled a note for the Doctor on the pad by the phone, letting him know she would be back as soon as possible and that he should go to bed without her. She grabbed the car keys and left the flat quickly. Based on what she had got from Angelo’s hurried explanation, Torchwood could well have a riot on its hands before the night was out.


	4. Chapter 4

After finding Rose gone and reading her note the Doctor had gone to bed. It wasn’t unusual for her to be called out to Torchwood at night, but that didn’t mean he enjoyed it. He propped himself up against the headboard and turned the TV on, channel flicking while he waited for Rose to get home. He knew that she could be hours, but he also knew there was very little chance of him getting to sleep without her being here. He cursed the combination of the human need for sleep and his own need to have Rose close to him.

He sometimes wondered if it stemmed from all the time they had spent apart. That if he fell asleep and she wasn’t there, he would wake up and this life would all be a dream. He shook his head. Thinking like that wouldn’t do anyone any good. He settled on a documentary about elephants and alternated between watching the television and the clock.

An hour later, the documentary was over, and the Doctor knew more about elephants than he thought was really necessary. He flicked the channel again and was greeted with another documentary; this time about women giving birth. He grimaced and flicked the off switch. That was the last thing he needed to think about. Especially with Rose’s preoccupation with children and the image burned to his brain of her holding a baby close to her. His heart had barely recovered from that particular incident. He sighed and picked up a book from his bedside table. He needed to clear his head.

When Rose let herself into the house a good three hours after she had left, she was greeted with silence. This was an unusual occurrence, life with the Doctor meant no more peaceful days. He had left the living room light on for her and she smiled, standing at the bottom of the stairs for a moment to listen for the sounds of the television, but he didn’t appear to be watching it.

She walked up the stairs as quietly as she could manage and glanced through their open bedroom door. The Doctor was sleep, a book on his chest and his glasses halfway down his face. She bit back a laugh as she slipped into the bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed beside him. “Doctor?” She whispered. “Doctor, wake up.”

He blinked awake slowly, struggling to focus on her. “Rose?”

She smiled, reaching forward with her free hand to pull his glasses away from his face. “Hello.”

Even in the dim light of their bedroom Rose noted the exact second that the Doctor realised there was something in her arms. His eyes widened and he took a moment to register what was going on before his mouth fell open and he sat up, knocking the book he had been reading to the floor. He stared at her and then reached forward with a shaking hand, laying it upon the sleeping baby’s head. “You... Rose... tell me you didn’t.”

“Sampson’s men were trying to get to her. That’s why Angelo phoned, they were trying to override security.” She studied her husband for a moment, trying to read his thoughts. “I couldn’t leave her there.”

The Doctor shook his head. “No. No, of course you couldn’t.” He shuffled closer to her, putting an arm around her gently. She rested her head against her shoulder and let the tears she didn’t know she had been fighting fall from her eyes. She felt guilty for leaving the baby there alone and angry for what Sampson’s team had been prepared to do to a small child and sad for this beautiful little girl who had lost everything but her life, and who was going to have to fight to keep that.

Suddenly the baby woke from her sleep. Her cry sounded pained and Rose looked at the Doctor, alarmed. He stroked the baby’s head calmly, whispering soothingly to her. Rose watched as he closed his eyes, focusing on reassuring the small girl. Moments later her cries had died down and the Doctor rested his head against Rose’s. He looked drained.

“You okay?” She whispered.

He nodded. “Empathy, she felt your pain.”

“You look tired.”

“Baby’s minds aren’t like adults, they’re uncontrolled, emotions and thoughts bouncing everywhere. It’s like...” he struggled to find the right metaphor, “it’s like being span around sixteen times and then shoved into a maze.”

“Disorientating?” Rose suggested.

“Exhausting.” He smiled.

Rose laughed softly and rubbed her nose against his. “That’s babies for you.”

He sighed. “What are we going to do with her?”

Rose rearranged the baby so that she could snuggle into the Doctor without putting her down. She hadn’t thought it through, bringing the baby here, it hadn’t been about what would happen next, just about getting her away from Sampson’s team, protecting her. She had wanted her safe, that was all she had thought about. She had left Torchwood, hailed a taxi – she couldn’t very well drive the baby back alone – and come straight home without any sort of plan. She shrugged. “Make it up as we go along?”

The Doctor looked uneasy. “Rose, we can’t keep her.”

She looked at him for a moment, unsure what to say. Usually he was all for making things up as they went along. Act first, think later. Talk their way out thinking things through. She gave him a desperate look. “She’s got nowhere else to go.”

“We’re not ready for a baby.”

Rose pulled away from him, cradling the girl close to her. “I thought you wanted children.”

“You can’t seriously be...” He trailed off. “Rose, we’re not ready.”

“By we, you mean you.” She stood up, making her way to the bedroom door. She turned before she left the room. “You’re not ready. You’d risk her life because you’re too afraid? There’s never going to be a right time for children, Doctor. You’ll never be completely ready.”

He scrambled off the bed, following her as she moved down the landing to what served as Tony’s bedroom. “Rose, you don’t just decide on the spur of the moment to take in a child.”

“I hadn’t, actually.” She told him firmly as she laid the baby in the middle of Tony’s bed. She began to look around the room for anything she could use as a makeshift cot barrier. She didn’t want the baby tumbling off the bed in the night. “You’ve just decided that.”

“What?” He stood in the doorway, his hands resting on his hips in the absence of pockets for him to slide them into. His hair was at odd angles from sleep and he looked genuinely confused.

“I wanted to keep her safe. I didn’t want to leave here there unprotected. I didn’t say anything about taking her in, about keeping her.” She sighed, frustrated at her inability to find something useful. “It was a temporary solution. You didn’t even ask.”

He offered her a weak smile and glanced about the room before fixing his eyes to hers. “Didn’t your mum insist we brought Tony’s old travel cot with us when we moved?”

“I didn’t think you’d noticed that.” Rose told him, her voice quiet.

“Notice everything, me.” He backed out of the room. “Your dad put it in the loft.”

She stood in the doorway as he climbed onto the banister, wobbling precariously as he shoved the loft hatched open. She bit her lip. “Be careful.”

“I’m fine.” He insisted, before hauling himself up through the hole in the ceiling. She marvelled at his upper body strength, something which still surprised her. A few moments later he was passing the bag which contained Tony’s travel cot down. She took it from him and stepped back as he hopped down.

She let him set up the travel cot, in the middle of the bedroom. Watching silently as he moved the baby from the bed and into the cot. He stepped back, flicking on Tony’s nightlight. “Let’s leave her.”

Rose followed him from the room silently, and he flicked the light off on their way out, leaving the door ajar. The nightlight projected shapes of planets and spaceships across the ceiling in the dark. When they reached their bedroom, Rose stopped him with a hand on her arm. “I don’t think we should go to bed yet.”

“She’ll be fine.” The Doctor insisted.

“Yeah, but I might not be.” She paused. “We need to have that talk now.”


	5. Chapter 5

The Doctor sunk into an armchair in the living room and eyed Rose warily. She sat on the sofa, near to him. There was an awkward silence, he didn’t want to talk because he hadn’t wanted to have this conversation. He had been determined to delay it for as long as possible, but he was well aware there would be no sense in arguing with Rose. He’d never win and it would just make things worse.

Rose sighed. He turned to look at her, she had curled her legs underneath her and was resting her head against her palm, elbow propped up on the arm of the sofa. She looked tired and vulnerable and he wanted to take her in his arms but he knew that right now that wouldn’t help. He sighed back. “What do you want me to say?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.” She paused, looking at the floor for a moment before her eyes travelled to his face. “I know that having kids isn’t as black and white for you as it is for me,” she was watching him carefully, as though he was a bomb she was terrified would go off any second, “you’ve been a dad before and that makes it harder-”

He cut her off. “No Rose, that’s not it.”

She looked at him, confused. “What...?”

He leaned back into the chair, tilting his head towards the ceiling for a few seconds and focusing hard on remembering to breathe. Then he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Yes, I’ve been a father before, but that... that doesn’t change the way I feel about you. What I want with you. I’d love to have children with you.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

He was flooded with guilt as he watched her, she looked hurt and confused and yet he still couldn’t bear to tell her the truth. He exhaled slowly. “I’ve lost so many people, Rose. Falling in love with you was never part of the plan,” he held up a hand to stop her from cutting in, “I’m not saying I regret it, because I don’t. I love you, I love the life we have and I love being married to you. But so much has happened and I-” He stopped. He was making excuses, avoiding the way of things because he didn’t know how to deal with their reality. But he was human now, he didn’t have the excuse of a Time Lord outlook on life; he felt things much more keenly these days and it would be nothing but selfishness that would keep him from being honest; there was no sense of duty, no belief that he was destined to be alone, that he deserved to be punished. This was different. He swallowed, hard.

“Doctor?” Rose’s voice was small and seemed far away. He wanted to make her happy so badly, he wanted her close to him and he wanted her to have everything she had ever wanted.

“There’s something I need to tell you.” He looked her in the eye and hoped that his voice wasn’t shaking too badly. “I don’t want you to hate me.”

“What?” Rose was at his side in an instant, perching on the arm of his chair and taking his hand in hers, confusion filling her face. “Nothing you could do could make me hate you.”

“Sometimes,” he told her softly, “I get afraid that if you were given the option, you’d leave. You’d realise I wasn’t as good as him. A defect clone. And you’d leave me behind.”

Rose let go of his hand. She didn’t look like a woman caught out, she looked angry that he could even think that of her. She gave him a long, hard stare and shook her head. “That would never happen. I love you, you stupid man.” There were tears in her eyes and his single heart ached at the sight. “Is that it? Is that why you don’t want to...”

“No.” He grasped her hand in his again, holding it a little tighter than was comfortable. “No, it’s not that.”

“Then what?”

He swallowed and placed a soft kiss on the back of her hand, not daring to look at her. He couldn’t back away from this now. And there was no point babbling at her and hoping she wouldn’t notice. He had to tell her outright, it would be easier that way. With his gaze focused solely on his bare feet he spoke. “Rose, we may never have children. Not our own, at any rate.” He didn’t want to look up to see her reaction, so he continued, not sure she understood. “It’s my fault. I mean, it’s me that... I’m not all human and my human DNA came from Donna so it wasn’t... I mean, I shouldn’t have expected-”

“Doctor?” Rose was squeezing his hand, willing him to look at her. He slowly turned his head, studying her expression as he did so. She was unreadable. She reached out with her free hand to stroke his cheek, running a finger along his sideburn gently. “What are you saying, exactly?”

“I’m trying to tell you... we, well, more specifically, I probably won’t be able to have children. Ever.”

Her hand stilled. “What?”

He reached up, tugging her immobile fingers away from his face, holding it in his free hand. “I wanted to tell you, but it never seemed like the right time. I thought... I thought if I didn’t mention it that one day it’d be easy just to... just to tell you.”

“How do you... how d’you know?” She slid from the arm of the sofa into his lap and let him wrap his arms around her.

“I was so excited when we got back from Devon,” he started to stroke her hair as he spoke, “you were going to marry me and we hadn’t said it outright, but we’d talked about kids and I thought, well, you were giving me a family. Everything I’d ever wanted.” She curled further into him, offering him comfort. “I decided to make sure we were compatible, that I was human enough.”

He fell silent briefly and Rose pressed a soft kiss to his temple, urging him to continue. “Go on...”

“I thought I would be. I just wanted to do the test so that I knew for sure, I thought I’d run it and then I’d know and I could come home and tell you we would be able to make a baby.” He smiled at the thought, but it quickly faded. “Only, when I checked the results... it’s not so much I’m not human enough, more than I’m not... well, man enough.”

“We’re not incompatible but you’re...” she trailed off.

“You can say it, Rose.”

“You’re infertile?” She said it so quietly he wondered if she was hoping it a whisper would make it untrue. He shrugged and she wrapped her arms around him tightly. “But...”

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, turning his head away from her.

“No... that’s not what I meant.” She made no effort to force him to look at her, but kept her arms around him. “Earlier, when were talking about babies. You asked if I was pregnant.”

“I guess I was just... being hopeful. Room for human error and all that.” He almost laughed.

“Doctor?” Rose whispered. “Doctor, look at me.” He turned back to her, expecting to see disappointment or anger in her eyes. He saw nothing but love as she wiped away the tears that had slid down his face. He offered her a very weak smile and opened his mouth to make another apology but she pressed a finger to his lips. “It’s okay.”

He shook his head. “You want children.”

Rose rested her forehead against his. “So do you.”

They were quiet for a long time, lost in their own thoughts. The Doctor battled with his guilt; there was nothing he could do about it. It wasn’t his fault he couldn’t give Rose a baby, it wasn’t the result of any conscious decision on his part. That didn’t make it hurt any less, though, the Time Lord had left him here to give Rose a normal, human life. And he couldn’t even manage that.

“Doctor?”

“Mm?”

“You’ve had children before, though. You’ve been a dad before, how...” She looked as though she felt guilty for asking and he tilted his head to press a soft kiss to her forehead.

“I was a Time Lord then. It was different, their mother and I were the same species and we were compatible. It was a long time ago, Rose. Centuries.”

“It still hurts though?” She lay a hand gently over the space where his second heart had once been.

He nodded. “They were an important part of my life. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t jump at the chance to have a family with you. You’re my whole world.” He threaded his fingers through hers.

“You’re mine.” She sighed. “I wish you’d told me.”

He dropped his gaze again then. “I know, I’m sorry.” He looked up again. “I was scared that you... that I wouldn’t be enough for you...”

“You’re more than enough for me, Doctor.” She kissed him softly, resting her head on his shoulder. “You fill my world up on your own.”

He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to him and letting his thoughts drift. It was late, they should really be heading up to bed. But there were still important things to be discussed. “So, what’re we going to do with little Aida up there, then?”

Rose shifted slightly. “Aida?”

“It means visitor. We can’t go around calling her baby alien for the whole time she’s here.”

Rose smiled softly at him. “She can stay?”

“She’s a baby Rose, she needs protecting.” He watched his hand as Rose fiddled with his fingers. “I’m not saying we can keep her. She’s not ours, she’s not human. If we can send her home, we should.” He sighed. “But for now?” He turned his eyes back to his wife. “We should get some sleep. I’m told babies a


	6. Chapter 6

Rose woke up to the sound of a baby crying. She extracted herself from the Doctor; he had wound himself around her even more than usual, and padded down the hallway into Tony’s room. She looked down into the travel cot, where the baby was reaching out for her. She lifted her into her arms and sshed her gently. “Hey there, Aida.” She stroked the little girl’s fine hair as she spoke. “He says we’re going to call you Aida. And it’s all going to be okay.”

She rocked Aida for a moment or two, trying to settle her. She was no doubt hungry, but they didn’t have anything in and she had left the car at Torchwood. She would have to wait for the Doctor to wake up and then send him to the nearest shop; she couldn’t very well go shopping with a baby when they had nothing to put her in. They were going to need nappies, too, she realised suddenly. At least she’d learnt all of this with Tony. She knew how to look after a baby, but that didn’t make her decision to steal her away in the night such a great idea.

As Aida calmed in her arms, resting her head against her shoulder and sniffling quietly, Rose wondered what it would be like to have this every day, to have a baby of her own to look after. Small and warm and secure in her arms. She shook the thought from her mind; it wasn’t going to happen. She loved the Doctor and she was going to spend the rest of her life with him. With or without children.

She just wished he had told her, he’d been carrying around his guilt for months. She had thought that since he’d arrived here, since he’d become human, he had learnt that he didn’t need to keep everything to himself, that they could talk about these things and work through them. But then he’d kept this to himself. A small part of her wondered if he still didn’t trust her, but the louder part of her brain was reassuring her; he loved her, he didn’t want to hurt her. She sighed and stroked Aida’s hair again. They could work through their problems, they were good together and if they decided that they wanted children there were always other solutions. For the moment, she needed to make sure he knew that he was still the most important thing in her life.

She was about to put Aida down and go wake him up when she felt his arms circle around her, his head resting atop of hers. “Morning.”

She turned, kissing his lips softly. “Morning. You okay?”

“Of course.” He smiled, but Rose was sure it was forced. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“No reason.” She knew him too well, if he wanted to pretend it was all okay then he would, no matter what she said.

He looked over her shoulder at Aida. “She looks happy.”

“I think she’s hungry.”

“She’s not the only one.” He told her. “Feed me, wife.”

Rose laughed, shaking her head. “When are you not? If you go out and get some baby food I’ll do you a cooked breakfast.”

“Ooh, yum.” He released her from his arms. “What do babies eat exactly?”

By the time the Doctor got back from the shops Rose had managed to get the travel cot set up in the kitchen and had placed Aida in it while she cooked. She was just serving up the breakfast when he walked through the kitchen door and flashed her a grin. He put the carrier bag of shopping on the kitchen counter and lifted Aida out of the cot. “Hello there.”

“What’re you doing?”

“I’m just checking everything’s okay. She must still be unsettled.” Rose watched as he placed a hand to the baby’s temple and closed his eyes. A few seconds later he opened them again and returned her to the cot.

“Alright?”

“As settled as we can expect, I suppose. She’s hungry though.”

“I meant are you alright?” He gave her a blank look. “Last night, when you did that you went all... funny. You looked tired.”

“Oh, she was distressed last night. She’s calm now, didn’t try to force me out. She was much more all over the place yesterday.”

Rose nodded mutely and placed his plate on the breakfast bar. “Here, get your breakfast. I’m going to change her nappy and then feed her.”

“What about your breakfast?” He asked as he slid onto a stool.

“I had toast while you were out. Eat, before you waste away.” She gave him a small kiss and grabbed both Aida and the bag of nappies the Doctor had picked up, heading out of the room. She felt his eyes on her as she left and smiled to herself.

Later, once both Aida and the Doctor had been fed and watered, they sat down in the living room to formulate a plan of action. The main things they had to concentrate on was keeping her safe. Technically, they were harbouring in an alien. And regardless of whether or not they were Director Tyler’s family, that was still an offence that was punishable by imprisonment. If they returned to Torchwood with her, she would be taken straight back to the vaults and into the hands of Sampson and his team, but if they didn’t turn up there was a high chance that they would receive a visit from a collection agent anyway. It was unlikely that Torchwood didn’t know who had taken the baby, it was just a matter of time.

Beyond her immediate safety, there was still a lot to figure out. They had to decide what was going to happen next, The Doctor was insistent that if they could get the baby home, they should. “This planet doesn’t have the means for real space travel yet, but with the right equipment and accurate galactic co-ordinates I could send out a message.”

“Yeah.” They were curled together on the sofa and Rose rested her head against his shoulder as he spoke. Aida was in the travel cot, sleeping again and they were once again as close to each other as was possible. Rose felt an urge to offer him comfort, even though he insisted there was nothing wrong. She felt horrible that he had been so hurt and afraid for so long and hadn’t shared it with her.

“What?”

“Nothing.” She kissed his chin. “I am listening, sorry.”

“Are you?” He rested his head in the crook of her neck and she sighed contentedly.

“Yeah. I know we need to work this out, but...”

“But what?”

“I just want to lie here with you for a while. Is that okay?”

He nodded and repositioned himself slightly so that they were both more comfortable. She reached for his hand and thread her fingers through his, tapping his fingernails lightly. She knew they needed to make a decision about what to do with Aida, in the same way they needed to make one about their future, but all she wanted was to know that he was okay, that he felt happy and safe with her. She tried not to let her mind drift to the possibility of solving two problems at once by keeping Aida. Rose had been captivated by the baby instantly and she was obviously taken with the Doctor, but it was a big decision to make and had she known about the Doctor’s infertility as long as he had, or if she hadn’t known at all, she might address the situation with different eyes. She was looking at this through the eyes of someone who wanted a child and who had just found out she may never get one. If they decided to keep Aida she couldn’t be sure it was for the right reasons.

After a while she turned herself so that she was looking up at the Doctor, he was resting his head against the arm of the sofa and look as though he was well on his way to falling asleep. Reaching upwards she ran a finger along the side of his face, scrunching her nose up when she realised he hadn’t shaved. She nearly laughed at how domestic they had become, lying curled up together in the middle of the day, her complaining about his stubble. This wasn’t the life she ever thought she would lead with him. And yet, she had never been happier. “Doctor?”

He blinked, sleepily. “Hmm?”

“I love you.”

“What’s that for?” He bent his head and kissed her fingers.

“I just wanted to tell you.” She paused. “I love you, no matter what, yeah?”

“You mean, in spite of...”

She sat up and placed her finger on his lips. “I love you for being you.” She pressed another kiss to his temple and pulled his arms around her. “We should decide what’s going to happen with Aida.”

The Doctor let out a long breath. “I don’t know Rose.” He glanced through the open door to the kitchen, where Aida was still asleep. “I want her safe, but beyond that, I don’t know what to do for the best.” He turned back to Rose. “Even if we get the right co-ordinates and send out the signal, there’s no guarantee anyone will respond.”

“We can probably stop Sampson’s team from experimenting on her, but we couldn’t put her into the care system. She’s not human, we need to be able to keep track of her.”

“This is why Torchwood should have a procedures in place for this sort of thing. We’ll have to sit down with your team and come up with a viable solution. A plan of action, I suppose.”

“We can’t leave a little girl to be raised by Torchwood. She doesn’t even have a real name.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the shrill sound of the doorbell and the Doctor shifted Rose away from him gently, a dark look in his eyes. “I’m not sure that we’re going to get a choice in the matter, Rose.”


	7. Chapter 7

The Doctor briefly entertained the idea of not answering the door, but he had been working for Torchwood long enough to know that locked doors were no barrier to them. Regardless of whether or not Torchwood itself was prepared to deal with an alien child, they were not going to allow anyone, not even the Director’s daughter, to take matters into their own hands. What’s more, they would be armed and any unnecessary inflammation of the situation would no doubt affect Aida. She was too small and had been through far too much for him to let that happen. He slipped his hand away from Rose’s as he stood, making his way towards the door.

Rose looked up at him, rising to her feet. “Doctor, don’t.”

“You know as well as I do they’ll just let themselves in, Rose. Aida will sense our distress, we should just be as calm about it as we can.”

He stepped out into the hallway, Rose following anxiously. After taking a deep breath he turned the lock on the back of the front door and opened it slowly.

He was met by a frantic looking Pete Tyler pushing past him into the house, closely followed by Jackie. He shut the door behind them as Rose sighed a breath of relief.

Pete turned to them, looking furious. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“What?” The Doctor moved to his wife, taking her hand in his.

“Stealing that baby from the vaults last night. Don’t think I don’t know it was you two. Where is she?”

The Doctor opened his mouth to speak but Rose silenced him with a look and turned to her father. “She’s asleep, Dad. Please keep the noise down.”

Pete looked incredulous. “What?”

“It’s been a scary couple of days for her, she’s only small, and she’s an empath, you’ll scare her.” Rose moved into the living room, pulling the Doctor with her and indicating her parents should follow. He watched as she sunk down onto the sofa and he was suddenly struck by how wonderful she was and how difficult it all was for her. In the past two days she had formed a relationship with an alien baby she probably wouldn’t be able to keep and found out that her husband was infertile and couldn’t give her the one thing he knew she desperately wanted, if not now, then in the future. He moved to her side, sitting on the arm of the chair and gripping her hand tightly. He shot her an adoring smile while Pete sat on the edge of an armchair, looking more agitated by the second. Jackie sat on Rose’s other side, remaining surprisingly quiet.

Pete rubbed his face with his hand and looked over at them. He looked tired. “You’ve kidnapped a baby, you’re harbouring an alien and the paperwork on this one is going to damn near kill me.”

“Pete,” the Doctor said, looking away from Rose, “Herbert Sampson and his team were preparing to experiment on her the second our backs were turned. She’s a distressed baby and she has done nothing wrong. She’s no threat to the Empire or to the planet. We’re just keeping her safe.”

“It’s not your place to fix everything. No disrespect, but you are not the highest authority in this universe.”

It was a sharp stab to the Doctor’s ego, but he wasn’t going to let it stop him. He had realised what he needed to do, for Rose, and for Aida. And really, though it seemed selfish to admit it, for himself. “Someone had to do something. She’s a beautiful little girl and all she needs is a home, someone to take care of her. Love her.”

“Torchwood can deal with the situation, find a suitable facility for-”

The Doctor rose to his feet, determined to convince Pete that he was being serious about this. “Torchwood doesn’t have procedures for dealing with babies or with children, it’s all lock it up, kill it, arrest it. But we’re not talking about a potential threat here, we’re talking about an innocent baby. She couldn’t hurt anyone, even if she wanted to.”

Pete sighed again. “So, what are you saying, Doctor? What are you suggesting we do?”

“I’m suggesting that we, that is, Rose and I, handle things.” He turned back to his wife, unsure if this was what she wanted, but knowing that someone needed to say it. “I’m suggesting that we take responsibility for her. Give her a home.”

He watched Rose’s reaction carefully. He had been thinking about this for much of the evening, he was well aware it was unlikely that they’d stand even a remote chance of getting Aida back to her home planet, and he didn’t trust Torchwood to raise a child. Even as they had been making plans, deciding what to do, there had been a small part of his brain thinking that this could be a chance for them all, an opportunity to give a child a real chance and for him to give Rose a family. To give himself a family for the first time in so, so long. He was ready to let himself be a part of that, he just hoped that he was right in thinking his wife wanted this too. Rose smiled up at him, a shy smile that made him fall in love with her all over again.

She nodded slowly, still smiling, before turning back to Pete. “Dad, we can give her more than Torchwood can. She’d never live a normal life there, be a normal kid.”

Before Pete could respond, Jackie took her moment to speak up. “And what happens when you get round to having kids of your own, eh? Going to put them second to an alien with God knows what problems?”

The Doctor noticed that Rose was determinedly not looking at him, although she reached for his hand again, the slight squeeze she gave it reassuring him slightly. He watched as she met her mother’s eye. “I’ve spent years putting everything second for a man who isn’t human, Mum. It’s not about whether she’s human or alien, it’s about her needing love and us being able to give it. She’s still a baby.”

“But what happens when you get pregnant, sweetheart? What do you do then?”

“The same thing that we would do if we had two children, Mum. Raise them.”

Jackie looked as though she was going to continue, but the Doctor quickly cut off the discussion by turning to Pete. “We won’t let you take her back to Torchwood. We’ll fight for this, for her.”

“This is unprecedented. Aliens aren’t pets, you know.”

“I of all people know that, Pete.” He sighed. “She deserves better than a life in a jail cell for a crime she will never commit.” After a moments silence he continued. “What if it was one of your children? If it was Rose or Tony? Would you want them locked up, or would you want someone to give them a fantastic life?”

“That’s completely irrelevant-”

“Dad.” Rose looked at Pete, a determined look upon her face. “Let us do this.”

“I can’t let you put yourself at risk.”

Aida chose that moment to wake up, a soft cry floating through from the kitchen. The Doctor slid from the room without a word, bundling the little girl into his arms as soon as he reached her. “Hey, don’t cry. What is it? Hungry?” He tapped her nose softly. “Are you old enough to eat bananas?” Unsurprisingly, there was no response from Aida. She had tugged on his t-shirt and was quietly chewing at it, though, so he was sure she was happy enough. He carried her carefully through to the living room, looking up at his father-in-law as he did so. “Look at her Pete, does she look dangerous to you?”

Pete regarded him for a moment. “Looks like she’s a danger to your clothes.” He commented, fighting a smile.

Rose turned stood, walking over to them. She shook her head. “I like that top.”

“So does Aida.” The Doctor answered, stroking the baby’s back gently.

“Aida?”Jackie asked. “She has a name?”

Rose nodded. “The Doctor chose it. It means... what was it? Visitor?” At the Doctor’s nod, she frowned. “But she’s not really a visitor, is she? It’s wrong now.”

“Aida doesn’t just mean visitor, it means reward too. And anyway, it doesn’t matter what her name means, as long as it suits her.”

“You said names have power.”

“Well, they do, but I don’t think... well, I don’t use my real name. And I bet you’re not named after the flower.” He shrugged. “You could change it to something with a more appropriate meaning.”

Jackie scoffed. “You can’t go changing babies’ names whenever you feel like it. I don’t know what it’s like on planet hoo-ha or wherever you’re from,” she ignored the Doctor’s interjection of the word ‘Gallifrey’ and continued, “but here on Earth you give a baby a name and that’s what you call them.”

Pete was rolling his eyes. “Her name isn’t the most important issue right now.”

The Doctor looked up from where he had become completely enchanted with Aida’s tiny features to stare down Rose’s father. “Pete, we’ll fight for this if we have to, but it makes sense for her to stay with us. We’ll take care of her, it’ll be a better life than Torchwood could offer her. She can be a normal child. Live the human life with me and Rose.” He smiled at his wife and she rested her head against his arm, looking down at Aida.

“I can’t just nod my head and it be done with. Sampson’s lot will be on me, they’ve already requested a retrieval team to come get her. Alison in dispatch sent out Rose’s team – she likes you both – and they flagged me, but it’s only a matter of time before another team arrives. It’s not as easy as getting the a-okay from your in laws, Doctor.”

“Oh, come on.” Jackie interjected, much to the Doctor’s surprise. “Pete, you’re the Director of Torchwood. You can do whatever you want. And just look at them. They look like a family already, it’d be wrong to break that up.”

“Jacks, there are procedures, and I can’t override them, even for Rose-”

“You can override them for me, Pete Tyler, or you’ll damn well know about it.”

The Doctor pulled a face at Rose and she bit back a giggle. They both turned to see Pete, knowing he was fighting a losing battle, nodding wearily. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Hear that, Aida?” The Doctor whispered softly. “Welcome to the family. It’s easy to see who’s in charge.”


	8. Epilogue

The Doctor swept Aida up into his arms as he lifted her from her car seat. She giggled gleefully and waved her hands about her head. “Hey there, beautiful.” He tapped her nose lightly and turned to his wife, who was already halfway down her parents’ drive. She smiled at him and he followed, holding Aida close to him. She wriggled in his arms. “What’s all this? Haven’t you missed Daddy?”

He smiled to himself as he spoke. Rose had decided a few months after they had taken Aida in that if they were going to be parents to her then they should do it properly, and so they had began to refer to each other as ‘Mummy’ and ‘Daddy’. He quite liked the idea, even when he had been a father before, he had never been called Daddy. Jenny had called him Dad, of course, but that was very different. He kissed Aida’s crown as they reached the front door. He had been sent away for a few days on an investigation for Torchwood, something he had not been happy with at all. He had missed Rose and Aida more than he had expected to, and he had barely slept the whole time he’d been gone.

All he wanted was to curl up with his little family until the baby’s bedtime and then take Rose to bed and show her how much he had missed her. But, human or not, father or not, he was still far more terrified of Jackie Tyler than he was ever likely to admit, so when she had insisted they all come around for dinner, he had been unable to refuse.

While they waited for someone to come to the door, the Doctor dropped his lips to Rose’s. They pulled apart after a brief snog, mostly because Aida was wriggling again. Which was when they noticed Jackie in the doorway. He gulped as his mother-in-law hoisted Aida into her own arms and shook her head at them both. “You’ve been married nearly a year, is your honeymoon period ever going to end?”

“Nope.” The Doctor answered with a grin, taking Rose’s hand in his as they walked into the mansion. They followed Jackie into the kitchen, rolling their eyes as she admonished them for not using their key. The Doctor contemplated telling Jackie that that was what they had a butler for, but he held his tongue, focusing instead on getting Aida back into his arms. He sat with her on his lap at the kitchen table, not really paying attention to the discussion that Rose and Jackie were having about traffic coming out of the city.

He remained there, happily playing with the baby, until he felt Rose’s hand on the back of his head. She ran her fingers through his hair and he looked up, smiling at her lovingly. “Kiss?”

Laughing, she pecked his lips softly. “We should put Aida down for a nap.”

“I’ll do it.” He told her as he stood. He stopped to let Rose kiss the top of Aida’s head and then headed from the room.

Rose listened to his footsteps on the stairs as he carried Aida up to the nursery Jackie and Pete had set up for the baby. She smiled and turned back to her mother. “It’s nice to have him back.”

Jackie looked up from where she was preparing vegetables for dinner. “You can’t have missed him. He was only gone four days. I’d’ve been happy for the break.”

“I... don’t like it when he’s not with me.”

Jackie nodded in understanding. “I’m sure it’ll get easier eventually, sweetheart.” She smiled softly. “And I bet it’ll be nice not having to look after the baby on your own.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.” She watched her mother for a moment. “Don’t know how you did it.”

“I coped. I didn’t have a choice, really.” A sadness flickered in Jackie’s eyes, but disappeared just as quickly. “And anyway, you were a lovely baby.”

“I thought I was a horrendous toddler?”

“Oh, you were. But that’s not going to make you feel any better, is it?”

Rose smiled at her mother. “It just feels wrong without him there, we spent so long apart and now I’ve got him and we have this fantastic life and a beautiful baby and it’s perfect. I don’t want to lose him.”

She jumped as arms snaked around her waist from behind. She felt the Doctor’s lips on her shoulder and turned her head as he smiled at her lovingly. “You’re not going to lose me, I promise.”

“I didn’t mean-”

He kissed her shoulder again. “I missed you too.”

She smiled as he released her from his arms and moved to sit on a stool at the breakfast bar. “So Jackie. Two questions, what’s for tea and how long will it be before I can take my wife home?”

Jackie threw a tea towel in his general direction and he considered himself lucky that she had had no crockery nearby. Rose moved behind him and laid a hand on his back. He turned his head for a kiss and Rose obliged, smiling at him.

Jackie scowled half heartedly. “God, the pair of you might as well go upstairs until tea’s ready.”

The Doctor shuddered. “No thanks, Jackie. No offence but I don’t particularly like engaging in amorous activities when there’s any chance you’ll hear us.”

Rose buried her head into her husband’s shoulder, embarrassed, while Jackie shook her head at him and moved to check on the food. “In answer to your first question, your tea’ll be done in about an hour. And the second; hours if you don’t start behaving yourself. And just you remember you’ve got a baby to look after, your sex life isn’t going to be as active as it has been.”

“Mum!” Rose screeched, embarrassed.

The Doctor turned a little pink, but laughed anyway. “We do okay thanks, Jackie.”

Rose’s embarrassment increased at the smirk on his face, and was further exacerbated by the sight of her father in the doorway, Tony standing beside him. Pete shot the Doctor a look while Tony raced across the room, sliding between his sister and his hero. “Doctor!”

“Tony!” The Doctor grinned and hoisted him up onto the breakfast bar, ignoring Jackie’s look of admonishment. Rose watched her husband tie Tony’s shoelaces while he filled the Doctor in on his week at school, turning only at the sound of her father’s voice.

“I processed the last of your paperwork on Aida today. Just need signatures from you both and she’s officially yours.”

“I thought she already was?”

“It’s just the adoption certificate, we had to delay it a little to keep things from being too suspicious. I’ll drop the paperwork round to yours tomorrow night; I don’t suppose either of you’ll be in work?”

“Probably not, Dad.” Rose told him.

The Doctor looked up from Tony’s shoelaces. “We’re not even getting out of bed.” He told him.

“That’s... more than I needed to know, thanks son.” Pete put in. The Doctor pulled a face at the address and turned back to Tony.

Jackie was fussing in the corner. “I’ve told you, you’ve got a baby to think of.”

“Not fancy babysitting then, Mum?”

The Doctor looked up again. “No, no no no no.”

“What? I’ve raised two kids y’know, I can look after a baby just fine, even if she is an alien.” Jackie put her hands on her hips and the Doctor swallowed in fright. “I let you take my boy on holiday and you don’t trust me with my grandchild for half a day?”

He broke out into a grin then. “Grandchild! That’s the first time you’ve said that. Can we let her call you grandma now?”

Pete frowned across the room. “I’m really not old enough to be a grandfather.”

“Don’t be silly, Dad.” Tony said with a cheeky grin to match his sister’s. “You’re the oldest man in the universe.”

It was hours later they got back to their house. Rose carried Aida in while the Doctor pulled his suitcase into the hall. He toed of his shoes and grinned as he flicked on the living room light. It was nice to be home. He followed Rose up the stairs as she placed a sleeping Aida into the cot in her room. They had set up the spare room into a proper nursery for her, it was a pale yellow and Jake had been round and painted moons and stars all along the walls. It was perfect.

He leaned down to kiss Aida goodnight and then quickly pulled Rose from the room. As much as he’d missed being able to tuck Aida in at night, he had missed taking Rose to bed even more. It had been a very lonely week, he hadn’t slept well and whenever he awoke he felt like something was missing. He led Rose into their bedroom and looked her up and down hungrily. “Mrs Tyler, I’ve really missed you.”

“Really? You want to show me how much?”

“Oh, definitely.” He smirked and brought his lips to hers without hesitation.

Later that night, lying in bed with Rose sleeping in his arms, he listened the sound of Aida’s breathing down the baby monitor. He sighed in content, thinking back to the day he had arrived in this universe and feeling like he was the luckiest man in existence. His thoughts drifted to the Time Lord, living a life so different from his. He had the entire universe at his fingertips; but he didn’t have this. All the planets in all the galaxies didn’t compare to having Rose in his arms, their baby sleeping soundly, it couldn’t compare to living an ordinary life. Which, really, was the biggest adventure of all.


End file.
